Quote from recruit shows that one narrative this season about the Tennessee Vols was completely false
For most of the 2022 season, everything went perfectly for the Tennessee Vols. Tennessee jumped out to an impressive 8-0 start this season — resulting in the program's first ever No. 1 ranking in the College Football Playoff rankings — before losing to Georgia in Athens. Despite the loss to Georgia, the Vols were still […]
For most of the 2022 season, everything went perfectly for the Tennessee Vols.
Tennessee jumped out to an impressive 8-0 start this season — resulting in the program's first ever No. 1 ranking in the College Football Playoff rankings — before losing to Georgia in Athens.
Despite the loss to Georgia, the Vols were still on track in November to reach the playoff. Tennessee got back in the win column the week after the loss to the Bulldogs with a 66-24 win against Missouri.
The following week, however, was the low point of the season for the Vols. An inexplicable 63-38 loss to South Carolina ruined Tennessee's playoff chances. The loss also created the narrative that the Vols had some major locker room issues.
That narrative was fueled by message board rumors and social media posts. ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit then unprofessionally referenced the unfound rumors on national television, much to the dismay of Vols head coach Josh Heupel.
The bad culture narrative proved to be completely false. And the Vols showed that by responding the following week with a 56-0 win over Vanderbilt.
While I'm sure there are plenty of folks who will shrug their shoulders at Herbstreit's comments and suggest that it's not a big deal, there were a lot of fans who worried that the "bad culture narrative" would impact recruiting in a negative way.
Fortunately for the Vols, it doesn't appear that the's case.
In fact, a quote from a 2024 four-star recruit this week shows that it's not the case.
Boo Carter, a four-star athlete from Chattanooga, spoke to On3 this week after revealing his top five schools (Tennessee, Michigan, Ohio State, Oregon, and Colorado).
Carter specifically pointed out the Vols' team chemistry as a reason he included Tennessee in his top five.
"I like how Coach Heupel has already changed the program at Tennessee," said Carter. "They went from bad to good quickly. A lot of people weren’t messing with Tennessee, but Heupel changed that. The team has great chemistry and they are building something. Coach (Willie) Martinez and I talk a good bit. They like me in the secondary and I will spend more time with Coach Martinez soon. I like the changes, how Tennessee is close to home and they have good things going.”
That quote should put to bed any talk about the Vols' culture. It's unfortunate that someone like Hebrstreit was able to spread rumors that could hurt Tennessee's program, but the good news is that the recruits who are actually around UT's team know that the rumors simply weren't accurate.
Maybe next time Herbstreit won't rely on Twitter for his television talking points.
Featured image via Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel via Imagn Content Services, LLC
